McKenna: Gay marriage 'a wash' in Wash.

2/26/12 5:32 PM EST

Republican Rob McKenna predicted the issue of gay marriage would ultimately be a wash in his campaign for Washington's open gubernatorial seat.

In the wake of the state becoming the seventh in the nation to recognize same sex marriage, Democrats have attempted to amplify the attorney general's opposition to the law.

But in an interview at the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington Sunday, McKenna told POLITICO that the opposition may be overplaying their hand on the issue.

"A lot of time Christian conservatives don't vote because they turn inward towards their church, they don't want to be involved in politics. It turns them out too," he said when asked how a potential referendum on the newly minted law would impact his own race. "I think it's a wash in terms of turnout."

McKenna campaign manager Randy Pepple also pointed out that his candidate's position is the exact same as President Obama's and said Gov. Christine Gregoire dodged a question about the president's beliefs on the issue in an interview with POLITICO.

"Gregoire didn't answer your question," Pepple interjected. "It's the same position as Rob. And frankly it's the same position Gregoire had until the first week of January."

McKenna said he wasn't surprised Democrats were attempting to change the subject, but predicted it wouldn't work this time.

"They don't want this election to be about regulatory reform,other reforms, job creation. They certainly don't want the election to be about education reform. For that matter, they don't want it to be about education funding," he said, referencing a breach within the party between the unions and Democrats advocating bold reforms.

McKenna also dismissed any notion he would he hurt by presidential turnout benefiting Obama.

"In our state, governor's races aren't nationalized. They're about state issues. How else do you explain the fact that our governor underperformed Obama by 11 points in '08 and at the same time, I outperformed my candidate, the McCain-Pain ticket, by 36 points," he said.

While most recent polls have shown McKenna holding a mid-to-high single digit lead over Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee, Public Policy Polling showed the race a dead heat last week.

McKenna saw that as a Democratic outlier.

"We're consistently leading. The average is almost 7 percent. I'll take that at face value," he said, cautioning that he expects the race to close by the fall.

"There's no doubt about it. I fully expect it will tighten up towards election day," he said.

Gregoire also told POLITICO she believed McKenna's lead was based on name recognition, a notion he dismissed.

"In the recent poll, my lead is substantially greater than my advantage in name I.D., so that doesn't seem to work really work very well as analysis," he said.

On his decision to stay out of the presidential caucuses, McKenna said he never even gave an endorsement much thought when the question was posed to him.

"I was asked when I would make up my mind . . . I just shrugged and said I suppose so. Frankly, I haven't given it a lot of thought," he said.

He reiterated he would not back a candidate ahead of the March 3 caucuses.

"It's not a good idea for a candidate running for office to take a position in other people's primaries. The rule is you stay out of other people's primaries," he said, revealing that no candidate has asked for his endorsement.